Tsunami hits close to home

At breakfast this morning at our hotel, I ran into our Executive Director of Asian Operations Acey Kohrogi and our primary scout in Japan, Keichi Kojima and as you might imagine, all anyone can talk about is the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan.

Acey was up much of the night following the news and I can only imagine how hard this is on someone like KK, who isn’t home in Japan and has to follow all the coverage on TV. We also know former Dodger Takashi Saito is from the town where this hit and as you can imagine, it’s been impossible for guys to call Japan and speak to anyone right now.

Kuroda learned of the earthquake online first thing this morning and said he was shocked by the photos he saw. His family mostly lives in the West, but he has a lot of friends on the Rakuten Eagles, which are based in Sendai, where the damage appears to be worst.

Even though this is taking place on the other side of the world, it’s amazing that the impact can be felt in Southern California, where very large waves are expected to be hitting the coast.

For those of us who lived through the Northridge, Whittier or even the Sylmar earthquakes over the last 30 years or so, you can somewhat understand what the quake itself felt like but there’s simply no way to understand the sort of damage that has occurred there.

We are all hoping and praying that the worst is behind the people of Japan and that the process of putting back together their lives and these towns starts to get underway quickly.

100 Comments

My thoughts and prayers to everyone in Japan and for those away from their home that have family and friends there.
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The parent company where I work is in Japan with headquarters and five plants there with about 2,700 employees there. We have Japanese employees here in the US that get rotated every so many years then sent back to work in Japan. We have heard from some but not all.
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It is nice that in times like this, I have heard this morning from friends that used to work here wanting to know news from our people in Japan and how they can help.

I agree with you Enchanted…I keep telling myself it’s only ST but, other teams are still beating us and, very easily, I might add. Just wish they would make the damn cuts already and then let the guys play as though it really mattered. So, as E says, “FU Ned and Frank”!!!

LMAO Beav!! I did/do give Frank and Furter a huge F and FU!!! They get a C-minus however, because, we have been playing alot of minor leaguers that have no shot just to fill out innings until the regulars stretch it out to 7 to 8 innings. The next couple of weeks will be more telling. By the way, I think the Casey Blake batting in the 2 hole is incredibly stupid. Geez!!! I would have given Carroll the starting 2B job and batted him 2nd. Blake is a waste. Should have kept Andy LaRouch!!!!! Heck, two years ago, I wanted to move Martin to 3rd. I think if we would have had the imagination and balls to do it, we would have a better than average 3B now and Marty still in the fold. JMO!!!

Not to be all gloom & doom, but I think its going to be a pretty sad season Tru.

Look at the problems:
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Brox still comes to camp as bloated as ever. No change-up. Couldn’t even get SD’s scrubs out. Why isn’t he getting the coaching to learn a third pitch? And why is no one on him about his weight? I really wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, thinking a lot of his problems were JoJo, but I don’t know anymore.
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Blake ? really? Its obvious he slid dramatically last year, and now he comes to camp another year older and slower and they think a little extra rest during the season is going to help? And on top of it all, bat him second? Add to that his defense slipped last year and now being another year slower isn?t exactly a plus.
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Furcal brings a chicken in the clubhouse. Colonel Sanders is one thing, but a live chicken is something else. And Ned claims these guys have an urgency about them? He must have walked in the wrong doorway and gotten into the White Sox half of the camp.
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Left field by committee. THAT?s a great strategy, especially when two of them can only marginally hit and can?t field a lick, and the alternative can?t hit period. Gibbons (.057) was somewhat of a feel good story last year, but if he makes the team ahead of [even] Paul, there?s something wrong here.
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Uribe? URIBE? Ned gives him $21 million for a career YEAR he had in SF? (also see Schmidt, Jason.)
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What can you say bout Barajas/Navarro? Really, what can you say? I haven?t decided if they?re a step forward, sideways or backwards (or is that just Ned waltzing around again?)
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Last year was just about a career year for Carroll, so at 37 I really don?t expect him to be able to duplicate it. And relying on Dre, Kemp and Loney wasn?t exactly a recipe for success last year, why all of a sudden is it going to come together this season?
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The defense on this team is crap on a stick (that?s right, a shitkabob) and I?ll be so bold as to say I doubt this team averages 4 runs a game. Add to that a rookie manager who failed so miserably as a hitting instructor he got a promotion (kinda like Ned failing miserably and getting a contract extension.)
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Talk about the inmates running the asylum?
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I?d say my expectations were abysmally low for this team, but I?d be lying because I don?t have any expectations for them at all.
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And yes Shad, I?m still that good. 🙂

Yes you are that good, Enchanted 🙂 I actually think we would do better with Matt and Andre….and, give a chance to the young guys who look like they could make a diffrence (I’m thinking of Sands and Gordon, perhaps) Xavier, I feel will be gone and, we will never know if he was good or not, since he never had much of a chance. He will probably end up with another team and turn into Werth.

If you look back on trades in July(not just the Dodgers), it is obvious that they very rarely works out. It is better to be a seller or do nothing!!!! In my opinion, Ned has only one good trade in his 5 year resume, Ethier. Manny trade was good for half a season, but they nullified it by extending him!!!!

I was telling Nells last night that this team is in a death spiral with no way of pulling out with Frank ‘n’ Furter at the controls. It only gets worse from here – can’t attract or pay any top flight talent, and I’m sure the young guys are champing at the bit to get away.

Like I said, its like watching a trainwreck about to happen, but the facination keeps you from turning away. I’m also starting to derive great pleasure from watching Ned’s failures, past, present and future, and to see just how epic this franchise can fail before either creditors or Selig forces Frank to sell. If/when that day occurs my biggest fear is Frank will sell to Jaime and her consortium so they can still save the franchise for their sons.

I wouldn’t give Ned too much credit for getting Andre. Andre was still pretty much an unknown entity at the time, and the A’s were probably thinking they were putting one over on Ned. Ned never knows shiiit from shinola, so getting Andre was just a bit of luck at the time. Figure how many trades he’s made, and we can count one success? FU Ned is the right answer. And yes, I think JHall is an easy grader to give this ST a C-, but I like JHall, so I din’t say anything at the outset.

:))) Thanks Bear!!! I only went with a C-minus as I don’t think we can get a great outlook when the field is crowded with minor leaguers and invitees. There’s a huge grading curve up to and thru the first mid-term. These next two weeks are where it gets down to business.

Hey, Bear, just thought you’d like to know that the attendance for our ST games is still sparce! Not like last year, for sure. But, I don’t blame th people fo not wanting to put out that kind of money to see a minor league game.

Heck, $20.00 parking, $6.00 nachos, $8.00 beers, $5.00 Dodger Dogs, not to mention the price of tickets. By my calculations, for a family of four, if I stay home for four or five games, I can buy a 42″ plasma HD TV!!!!!

Great to hear about the sparse attendance at our Spring Training home. Now if we can only put a little panic into Frank with similar attendance at DS. Of course, I expect that our publicity and marketing people will get to work and keep announcing new events just like they’re doing for the midweek games featuring the old uniforms. By May I expect we could be featuring half off for games when Blake is batting in the #2 slot, or maybe free beer when Uribe dips under .225.

I’m watching basketball too, Jhall. Wish I had a cocktail 🙂
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Someone just sent me a message stating that for ST our Dodgers are dead last of the 30 teams…batting only .235 with an astonishing OBP of .283…..YUCK!!!!!

I never thought I’d say this, but with the situation in LF, I long for the days of JP. But as you can see, even when Ned stumbles into doing the right thing, he still manages to fall facefirst into a steaming pile.
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Gibbons is “hitting” .057 against mediocre competition, and he being lefthanded is going to take a majority of the PAs in left? Thames is hitting OK, but his D stinks. At this point they need to be cutting their losses by letting Gibbons go, and giving Gwynn the job in center (and batting second), with Thames taking the ABs against LHers. At least the D would be better for most games.
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But honestly, debating doing this or doing that and with whom where is moot because this team is so bereft of bonafide talent that debate is an exercise in futility.
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I mentioned on Gurnick’s blog that L.A. deserves better than this, and if this team were in Kansas City, I’d be saying that Kansas City deserved better than this.
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So choo-choo and chugga chugga, here come the trains.

I’m not a big fan of Dunn, but that move would’ve made sense and actually helped the team Wally, hence there was no way they were ever going to do it. Ned’s never demonstrated he could run a little league team, let alone a ML club. 6 years and he’s made one good trade and maybe a couple decent signings? He’s got no more baseball sense than a turnip. But what’s worse, Frank has so much less baseball knowledge than Ned that he thinks Ned’s doing a good job.

If you figure that each and every year Ned turns over half the team and signs 8-9 mediocre players per year to contracts from $1-$3 mil each, that’s $10-13 mil PER YEAR he’s wasting where if he signed one impact player he could mostly fill in the rest with prospects at $400K/yr. Now figure the 5-6 years Ned’s been GM and that’s $50-$65 mil wasted. That’s ON TOP of the $225+ mil he’s wasted just on Jones, JP, Schmidt, Manny, Nomore and Mueller. Not to mention Furcal, Blake and assorted other freaks and geeks that don’t fall into the first two catagories.

How can you spend over $300 million and not have a single thing to show for it? (and still have a job?) And I’m all but going to guarantee we’ll be able to add Uribe’s $21 mil before the season’s over.

I agree with E that it’s time for Gibbons to be GONE and Gwynn should probably stay to platoon with Thames in the OF. I wish Paul was showing some reason why he should be kept, but he really doesn’t seem up to it.

Trumom, I only attend 4 or 5 games year in Cincinnati and Cleveland. I used to look forward to the Dodgers coming to town. Last year, I passed. I did not care to watch them. I have not bought any new Dodger merchandise in the last 5 or 6 years as I will not contribute to Franks bottom line.

Jhall ~ I know how you feel. Nellyjune and I only went only one game in LA (it was Andre’s bobblehead night)and one in SF (because we wanted to meet Collie).
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Enchanted….I was thinking a tattoo on one cheek would complete the look!

Have a good night Beav!!! I have to apologize. Ranking Ned and Frank for that matter with an a** hole is a complement. Truth be told, at least an a** hole provides a vital and essential function with great efficiency. Something I can’t say about Frank and Furter!!!!!!

In all seriousness, I am a life long Dodger fan and I have never felt this bad about our organization. I’ve gone thru some lows, but, I believed we would be OK. That’s because we had a viable owner and GM. That is not the case now. We are basically watching the demise of our beloved Dodgers at the hands of a con man. MLB and Selig let it start, it is time for them to make it stop!!!!! C’mon Bud, he’s a good con man. He got you up front, but you can shut him down. Please, force the McCourts out!!!!!

Wow!! I leave school with under 20 posts and come back after dinner, and it’s at 89. Great posts ladies and gentlemen! Looks like our time warping issues are gone at least. Too bad Frank and Ned can’t be gone too 🙂

Is there an option to have Gwynn batting lead off and Furcal batting 2nd but for that to work he had to beat those LF for the job. To bad it would’ve been so easy if it was Paul to lead off or bat 2nd.

Something tell me that Mattingly going with experience in that 2nd holes because if you look at how many AB’s Blake has in that 2nd hole that his 3rd highest AB’s in that spot but he should be batting 6th.

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